Sunday, March 8, 2009

In commission for the Jiang Yuan Water Engineering Company, VMX Architects designed a contemporary international hotel for the city of Ordos. By not only relying upon the logic of and philosophies behind famous hotel concepts, but also taking into account the specific context of Ordos, the new Hilton Hotel aims on transcending the generic and at the same time symbolizing the spirit of Inner Mongolia.

The concept maximizes two existing qualities. The first is the surrounding landscape and the city of Ordos. The second is the adjacent country club functions, which are already foreseen for this site, especially the golf course.

The urban plan dictates a maximum height of only three storeys. Applying the average (rectangular) hotel plan would easily lead to long corridors, hence: long walking distances. Also, a rectangle is not the ideal form to integrate the building in the landscape.

In proposing a round building, we take maximum advantage of the view in every direction, while at the same time minimising the distances between rooms and hotel functions such as lobby, dining areas, bars, concert stage and swimming pool. The rooms are divided over four levels, three above and one below grade. All rooms face the green landscape; all hotel functions are centred in the heart of the building. This inside space is designed as a spectacular collective world on its own, partly covered by a glass roof and so protected from the harsh climate.

In our design we intend to combine our rational, pragmatic, in a way ‘western’ perspective, with a more ‘eastern’, oriental approach. In our eyes, this eastern approach has a strong symbolic component. Considering this aspect we conceptualised the form of the building by referring to the Sun, an important Mongolian symbol, and the Moon from the nearby Moonlake. In its section, the silhouette of the yurt, the archetypical Mongolian settlement, can be recognised. The colours inside and on the outside of the building refer to the local natural colours of grass, sand and water.

From above, the hotel appears as a flower, symbolising its function of an oasis in the desert. This way the new hotel resort can be easily found by Google Earth, nowadays by far the most popular medium to discover exciting new worlds.